In the Mood for Graphite

Last couple of days I've been more into sketching with pencil than painting.

Worked this one early morning from one of my photos when our group met up at Simon Seed Gardening Center in Leesburg early last year.

First I worked a quick sketch trying to get the main shapes down.  Then I went back and refined adding other items, more detail, and shading.

Worked on the back of Grumbacher watercolor paper, which is extremely smooth. 

3B Mars Lumograph

This next one is worked on Stonehenge 90 paper following an assignment in a book I've borrowed from one of my sketching pals from our group.  Also used the 3B pencil.

I really like this paper for graphite work as the slight tooth shows texture that I like.  Love the feel of the pencil moving across the surface.

The book is called Ernest W Watson's Course in Pencil Sketching (Four books in one).   The author shares various techniques with examples and then shares a photo as an assignment with similar subject matter for the reader to practice.

From the photo I tried my hand at, I only worked a small section of the building rather than the entire street scene and building.